OK, never mind. The Houston Chronicle strives to be a family newspaper. Back to the action.

"I was warming up into the net, and my shoe sole started to pull away from the leather," Rackers said. "I hit one more ball, and my toe was almost shooting out the side of the shoe."

There are a few different ways to kick game-winning field goals, but barefoot isn't Rackers' favorite.

"That was going to be an option if the shoe wasn't out there," Rackers said. "I would have given it a shot. It would have been better than having (the busted) shoe on."

Talk about bad timing. The Texans had clawed and scratched their way from 17 points down to force overtime on an amazing Matt Schaub-to-Andre Johnson touchdown pass.

Now they were positioned to win one of those special games, one that just might have some carryover in terms of confidence and resilience and all those other things coaches love.

As you might recall, the Texans have an unpleasant recent history when it comes to late-game field-goal attempts. Last season, Kris Brown missed kicks that would have forced overtime against the Colts and Titans, and those misses are why Rackers was signed in the first place.

Now, in his first big moment for his new team, he'd suffered the ultimate wardrobe malfunction.

Truth be told, Gary Kubiak would have been surprised at everything that was going on behind him.

During further review

This is when the Texans benefited from instant replay, and who says karma isn't turning around? The Texans have been bitten by instant replay enough times that it was time they caught a break from it.

As Joel Dreessen's 28-yard reception was being reviewed, Rackers sent assistant equipment man Chris Snell sprinting for the locker room to retrieve a backup shoe.

Snell later joked that if he'd been unable to find the shoe, he would have kept running right out of the stadium and back to Houston.

"(Snell) should be a track star," Rackers said. "He was flying. There was a little adrenaline."

Snell found the shoe and hustled back to the sideline, and Rackers got it on in time to kick a 35-yarder for a 30-27 overtime victory.

"Normally, to break in a shoe, I wear it in the hot tub and walk around in it for a bit," Rackers said. "I've got Flintstone feet, and the leather needs to stretch out a little bit. It had a different feel to it, but you do this enough, and you just go out and kick the ball."

Like I said, there will come a time when the whole thing is knee-slapping funny. For now, it was a lesson learned.

"Hopefully," Marciano said, "he has to have another shoe out there with him (on game days)."

Not his first foot fault

Rackers had the same thing happen in warmups once before while playing for the Cardinals. His shoe flew apart, and he kicked his snapper, Nathan Hodel, in the back of the head.

Last Sunday, the stakes were slightly higher. On a day when he'd missed a 47-yarder and connected from 47 and 43 yards, the Texans put their hopes on his shoulders.

"I should have made the first kick," Rackers said. "We shouldn't have been in that situation. Bernard Pollard got a nice thank-you from me for blocking their field goal and giving me the opportunity. I told him a starter on defense doesn't always go as hard as he does on special teams."

He didn't say if Pollard laughed, but there will come a time when we'll all be laughing about the day that was and the kick that almost wasn't.